Air-humidifying heat radiator



Oct. 23, 1934. wATERMAN I 1,977,926

AIR HUMIDIFYING HEAT RADIATOR Filed Feb. 11, 1932 Patented Oct. 23,. 1934- I UNITED stars FFlC-li."

1,977,926 Am-nUMrmFYING HEAT RADIATOR Max L. Waterman, Fairfield, Conn. Application February 11, 1932, Serial No. 592,243

9 Claims. (01. 2s7 7s This invention relates to improvements in humidifiers or air-moistening devices for heat radiators, and primarily aims to increase the efficiency of devices of this character and to provide for incorporating an open water-container in a radiator without thereby increasing the radiator size or materially impairing its heat radiating capacity.

A further object of the invention is to provide for ready application to or removal from a radiator of an open water-container. I

The invention consists in the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described, in connection with the accompanying drawing, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a fin-type radiator in which the present improvement has been incorporated. Fig. 2 represents a transverse section of the radiator substantially on the line 2-2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one end of the radiator with its header removed. Fig. l is a View in side elevation of a radiator having a modified header connection with theheat radiating elements.

"Referring to the drawing, a commercially well known fin-type radiator comprises headers 1 and 2, having suitable inlet and outlet ports, said headers being connected by a plurality of heatmedium circulating elements which in the present case are in the form of pipes 3 for steam or hot water. The radiator illustrated in the drawing has upper and lower rows of three horizontal, parallel pipes 3, but it will be obvious that any other preferred arrangement may be employed. -Mounted upon the pipes 3in substantially parallel relation transversely of said pipes are a plurality of rectangular heat-radiating members,

in the form of fins 4, which are suitably apertured to receive the pipes, said fins being made of copper or other like material havinga high heat conductivity. The rectangular fins are preferably reinforced at their corners by angle pieces 5, but it will be obvious that the fins may be circular or of irregular outline as may be preferred.

In order to readily incorporate an open watercontainer in a radiator of the type described, the fins 4 are provided, in the present case, with arcuate slots 6 of which one of the ends open into one of the fin edges and of which the opposite ends terminate in the body of the fins. It is preferred to provide the open ends of said slots in the upper edges of the fins, but it will be evident that said slots might be formed to open into one of the side edges of the fins. The slots are formed in the adjacent fins so as to be substantially parallel, i. e., the centers of ourvature of the slots define a substantially straight and preferably horizontal line, whereby the several slots together provide a guideway permitting insertion through the open ends of said slots of the correspondingly curved wall 7 of a troughlike water-container having end walls 8. To facilitate insertion of the Water-container into the slots 6, the latter are preferably made slightly Wider than the thickness of the container-wall 7 and the radius of curvature of said wall 7 is preferably very slightly less than the radius of curvature ofthe lower slot-defining edges 9 of the fins, as illustrated more particularly in Fig.

2 of the drawing. The open ends of the slots 6 may be suitably reinforced by angle pieces 5 connecting the several slotted fins. ,7

The lower edges 9 of the slots 6 may constitute a support for the water-container, or the headers may be wholly or in part employed for this purpose, and while for adding to the heating efficiency and ease of manufacture it is preferred to form the upper edges 10 of theslots 6 parallel to and closely spaced from the slot-edges 9, with merely the requisite clearance for the container wall '7, it willbe evident that said slot-edges 10 might have a diiferent contour, if desired. In the construction illustrated in the drawing, the slot-edges 1c define fin-segments which project through the upper or open side of the Water-container into the interior thereof, whereby portions of said segments are immersed in water within the container and serve to directly heat the water, while the remaining portions of said segments above the water and exterior to said container function as air-heating members. 7

To still further add to the efficiency of the water-heating arrangement described, the slots 6 are preferably formed in the fins 4 to partially surround one or more of the pipes 3, which may thereby be also immersed in or, if desired, entirely submerged by the water, and serve to directly heat the same.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the water-container intersects all of the radiator fins, having its end walls 8 disposed between a portion of the headers 1, 2 and the end fins. In this construction, the headers may be shouldered or otherwise formed to wholly or partly support the container. It is apparent, however, that the container may have a length such that its end walls are disposed between the fins at any point in the length of the radiator. One or more of the fins directly adjacent to the headers may be cut away below the upper pipes 3, instead of being formed with the slots 6.

In a water-container arrangement such as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawing, the heatmedium pipe 3 which is partly surrounded by the water-container is connected with the headers 1, 2 by angle-pipes 11 inclined upwardly from said pipe in a direction away from the open ends of the slots 6, to afford additional clearance for introducing the container within said slots. A modification of this construction is illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing, wherein a U-shaped connection 12 is employed for the same purpose. In stead of the connections 11 and 12 above referred to, it is obvious that the pipe 3 may be passed through suitable apertures in the end walls 8 of the water-container after the latter has been placed in the fin slots, and soldered or otherwise secured to said end walls to provide a water-tight connection, In this form of construction, the container side walls should preferably be slightly corrugated to provide forexpansion thereof.

The container may be supplied with water through a suitably supported pipe 13 which may extend upwardly-through one of theheaders or, as illustrated in the drawing, be disposedadjacent-to one of the headers and bent to overhang the containen The fiow of the water into the container may be controlled by a suitable valve 14. At the, opposite end of the container, there is provided an outlet pipe 15 connected within the container to an angularly adjustable pipe-section 16 open at its free'end, whereby the height of the water in the container may be selectively determined. The heat-radiating capacity of the Water-container arrangement herein described compensates to a large extent for any loss in the direct heat-radiating surface of the radiator occasioned by immersing segments of the fins in water. 1

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:,

1. A radiator having a plurality of heat-radiating fins provided with arcuate slots terminating at one of their ends in one edge of'said fins and terminating at their opposite ends in the bodies of said fins, and an open water-container disposed in said slots having a curved wall conforming substantially with the curvature of a slotdefining edge of said fins.

2: A radiator having a plurality of adjacent heat-radiating members provided with arcuate slots having centers of curvature defining a substantially horizontal straight line, and an open water-container disposed in said slots.

3. A radiator having a plurality of adjacent heat-radiating members provided with corresponding slots having substantially parallel slotdefining edges in said members, and an open water-container supported by corresponding slotdefining edges of said members and interiorly receiving the other slot-defining edges of said members.

4. The combination with a radiaton, of an airhumidifier comprising a water-container incorporated in said radiator to receive heat therefrom, said radiator having substantially parallel heat-medium circulating pipes disposed interiorly and exteriorly of said water-container, and a plurality of substantially parallel heat-radiating fins disposed transversely of and having heatconducting connections with said pipes both interiorly and exteriorly of said water-container.

5. The combination with a heat-radiator, of an air-humidifier comprising an open water-container incorporated in said radiator to receive heat therefrom, said radiator including a heatmedium circulating pipe disposed interiorly of said water-container, and a plurality of heatradiating members projecting through the open side of said water-container and having heat-conducting connections with said pipe interiorly of the container. 7

6. A radiator having spaced headers provided with inlet and outlet ports, a heat-medium circulating pipe connected with said headers, a plurality of substantially parallel heat-radiating fins mounted upon said pipe, each of said fins having an arcuate slot partially surrounding said pipe, and an open water-container having a curved wall disposed in said slots to partially surround said pipe.

7. A radiator having spaced headers provided with inlet and outlet ports, a plurality of heatmedium circulating pipes connected with said 110 headers, a plurality of slotted heat-radiating fins mounted upon said pipes, and an open Watercontainer disposed in the slots of said fins and supported by said headers.

8. A radiator having. spaced headers, a plurality 115 of heat-radiating fins between said headers provided with open-end slots terminating in one edge of said fins, an open water-container disposed in the slotsv of said fins having its end walls adjacent said headers, a heat-medium circulating 120 pipe connected with said fins interiorly of said water-container, Water-container end-wall clearing connections between said pipe and said headers, means for supplying water to said container, and adjustable means for automatically determining the quantity of water within the container.

9. The combination with a radiator, of an airhumidifier comprising an open water-container disposed within said radiator to receive heat therefrom, said radiator having a heat-medium 130 circulating element disposed interiorly of said water-container and a heat-medium circulating element disposed exteriorly of the water-container, and a heat-radiating member extending throughthe open side of the water-container from 135 one of said heat-circulating elements to the other.

MAX L. WA'I'ERMAN; 

